The present invention relates to a vascular prosthesis system for inserting into and supporting a blood vessel of a patient, which vascular prosthesis system is convertible from a compressed state to an expanded state.
In particular, the present relates to a vascular prosthesis system that is implanted in the area of the aortic arch.
Vascular implants of this kind are known in the prior art, for example from DE 103 37 739.5.
It is generally known for intraluminal vascular prostheses, also referred to as endovascular stents or stent grafts, to be implanted in order to treat weakened, damaged or torn vessels or aneurysms. For this purpose, a vascular prosthesis or a stent graft is released at the diseased or damaged site of the vessel and restores the functionality of the original vessel or supports the still existing integrity of the vessel.
An aneurysm is understood here as a widening or bulging of an arterial blood vessel as a consequence of congenital or acquired lesions of the wall. The bulge in this case can affect the vessel wall as a whole or, in what is called a false aneurysm or dissection, blood flows from the lumen of the vessel in between the layers of the vessel wall and tears these apart from one another. Non-treatment of an aneurysm may lead to a rupture of the artery in advanced stages, after which the patient suffers internal bleeding.
The self-expanding vascular implants used for the treatment of such aneurysms generally consist of a hollow cylindrical metal framework of which the jacket surface is covered by a textile or polymer film, such that a hollow cylindrical body is obtained. For implantation, the vascular prosthesis is radially compressed, such that its cross-sectional area is greatly reduced. With the aid of an insertion system, the vascular prosthesis is then brought into the area of the aneurysm, where it is released. By virtue of the resilience of the metal framework, the vascular prosthesis expands again to its original shape and in so doing stretches its jacket surface, which lodges inside the blood vessel proximally arid distally in relation to the aneurysm. In this way, the blood now flows through the vascular prosthesis, and further loading of the bulge is avoided.
The metal framework of such vascular prostheses is generally composed of a wire mesh, for example, or of so-called stent springs, which are arranged in succession and extend circumferentially in a meandering formation and, if appropriate, are connected to each other by connecting struts made of wire, or which are merely connected to each other via the prosthesis material. The wire mesh or the stent springs are usually made of a shape-memory material, generally of Nitinol, as a result of which the stent springs, after introduction into a vessel for release, return to the expanded state and thus “wedge” the vascular implant.
Aneurysms generally occur in the area of the abdominal aorta or thoracic aorta. To treat aneurysms in the abdominal aorta or thoracic aorta, it is already known to stabilize the artery by implantation of a stent such that a rupture of the vessel is avoided.
However, aneurysms can also occur in what is called the ascending branch of the aorta (aorta ascendens). The ascending branch of the aorta is connected directly to the heart. Starting from the aortic root (sinus aortae), the ascending branch extends upward in a slightly curved shape away from the heart and merges there into the aortic arch (arcus aortae). The vessels of the head, among others the left and right carotid arteries, branch off in the area of the aortic arch. The aortic arch follows a curve of approximately 180° with a very narrow radius and connects the ascending branch of the aorta to the thoracic aorta and eventually to the abdominal aorta.
It is important, not only in the area of the aortic arch, to ensure that branch vessels issuing from the main vessel are not blocked by the positioning of the vascular prosthesis, which is why many vascular prostheses have open zones or so-called fenestrations through which branches issuing from the vascular implant, and protruding into the branch vessels, can be inserted and can be fixed on the vascular implant.
An aneurysm or a dissection in the ascending branch of the aorta has hitherto been generally treated by invasive open surgery. Such surgery has previously generally required two major interventions to be performed at different times and entails a very extensive, complex and therefore dangerous operation, since it is not just the heart but also the brain and the abdominal organs of the patient that have to be subjected to hypothermic perfusion, i.e. artificial, cold extracorporeal blood flow, or hypothermic arrest of blood flow. However, only a small number of heart surgeons at specialist centers are sufficiently familiar with such a procedure.
There is therefore still a great need for stent systems/stent graft systems or vascular prostheses with which the surgery outlined above could be made easier and could be performed in a shorter time.
In the prior art, there is as yet no known stent system or stent graft system with which the surgery outlined above could be made easier and could be performed in a shorter time, for which reason these is still a great need for such a system.